Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. (NYSE:KGS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. (NYSE:KGS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,030,000 shares, an increase of 28.0% from the March 15th total of 4,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Approximately 12.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KGS. Mizuho increased their price target on Kodiak Gas Services from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $45.00 target price on Kodiak Gas Services and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kodiak Gas Services in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kodiak Gas Services has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.45.

Kodiak Gas Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KGS traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $34.07. The stock had a trading volume of 77,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 787,124. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.27. Kodiak Gas Services has a 12-month low of $24.84 and a 12-month high of $50.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.19 and a 200-day moving average of $38.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.53 and a beta of 1.52.

Kodiak Gas Services (NYSE:KGS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $309.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $323.82 million. Kodiak Gas Services had a return on equity of 7.91% and a net margin of 2.23%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kodiak Gas Services will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kodiak Gas Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.28%. This is an increase from Kodiak Gas Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Kodiak Gas Services's payout ratio is 277.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Frontier Topco Partnership, L. sold 3,728,677 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.50, for a total transaction of $177,112,157.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,771,323 shares in the company, valued at $1,651,637,842.50. This represents a 9.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Kodiak Gas Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Kodiak Gas Services by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 703 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Kodiak Gas Services by 710.1% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 721 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kodiak Gas Services by 1,322.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 754 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Kodiak Gas Services by 112.6% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kodiak Gas Services in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. 24.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Kodiak Gas Services

Kodiak Gas Services, Inc operates contract compression infrastructure for customers in the oil and gas industry in the United States. It operates in two segments, Compression Operations and Other Services. The Compression Operations segment operates company-owned and customer-owned compression infrastructure to enable the production, gathering, and transportation of natural gas and oil.